Florida Coastal School of Law

Gender Gap Shrinking Worldwide in Aquatic Sports at Olympic Games

“Women make up 50 percent of the (world) population, so I can’t see any logical reason for women not being 50 percent of the competitors,” said Nancy Hogshead-Makar, the senior director of advocacy at the Women’s Sports Foundation and a 1984 swimming Olympic champion.

Having been a swimmer for many years, Hogshead-Makar said she saw firsthand how other sports can emulate swimming, with nearly the same number of males and females training together in the pool at the same time. She also noted that the United States’ above-average number of females can be attributed to sports being an integral part of the education system, which few countries do. The foundation’s work with enforcing Title IX in high school and college athletics has also played a part in promoting athletic participation among women, Hogshead-Makar said.

“It gives us a vision of what sports could be and makes us want that globally,” she said.